Electricity group snags Jo Ann Emerson to be CEO

Missouri Rep. Jo Ann Emerson is leaving the House to lead a power industry trade group that has served as one of her biggest sources of campaign money.

The 16-year Republican lawmaker announced Monday that she will step down in February to become president and CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, whose efforts have included opposition to a host of the Environmental Protection Agency’s pollution rules.

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The announcement came a week after another power industry player — Duke Energy — announced it hired retiring Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) as senior vice president.

The rural electricity association may not be a household name with many voters, but it ranks as a lobbying and campaign-spending “heavy hitter,” according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The watchdog group says the association has made at least $1.8 million in contributions during this campaign cycle — ranking it No. 146 of 20,484 donors — and has spent more than $2 million on lobbying this year.

The association has contributed almost $80,000 to Emerson throughout her career, the center says, making the rural electrical group her largest all-time source of campaign cash. That includes at least $8,000 during the 2011-2012 cycle, although the final reports for that period are not yet due.

The rural electrical association has been a consistent big spender on lobbying too: It has devoted more than $2.9 million on federal lobbying efforts every year since 2003, according to federal disclosure records. It reported spending $691,000 to lobby on a slew of issues in the first quarter of this year alone.

The association has supported numerous pieces of legislation to pull back EPA regulatory authority, including the agency’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gases and coal ash.

The group has also lobbied on legislation to move forward on the Keystone XL pipeline and repeal light bulb standards. And it has pushed bills regarding health care, retirement, cybersecurity, railroad anti-trust exemptions, broadband communications and various efforts to rein in the Dodd-Frank financial reforms.

The group represents 900 nonprofit rural electric cooperatives and public power districts that have more than 42 million customers in 47 states, the association says. The cooperatives account for about 12 percent of U.S. electricity sales.

Readers' Comments (4)

Wow, it's pretty rare that lawmakers openly admit that they care more about a special interest trade group than their constituents, but GOP Rep. Jo Ann Emerson just did! These lobbying groups have paid her way more than her US House salary anyway, so she might as well make her employment there official.

Wow, it's pretty rare that lawmakers openly admit that they care more about a special interest trade group than their constituents, but GOP Rep. Jo Ann Emerson just did! These lobbying groups have paid her way more than her US House salary anyway, so she might as well make her employment there official.

A great number of Democrats are bankrolled and admit, openly, that they are in the pocket of unions, enviro-whackos and race-pimps. And all of these organizations regularly move in directions counter to the majority of Americans, so being observant is clearly not one of your strengths.

FYI, there is nothing "special-interest" about cheap, reliable energy. The problem of an administration overseeing an EPA populated by extreme, enviro-whacko activists is very real, and (unless your utilities are subsidized.) you will feel the pinch when (As President Obama has said so, himself...) "Under my plan, electricity costs will necessarily skyrocket". For our economy to flourish, basic needs, like energy has to be reasonable to purchase, and reliable.

I think that I would prefer Rep Emerson in Washington, trying to stem the tide of the extreme Left, but I can understand her desire to work somewhere that is more results-oriented. I wish her the best of luck, and hope that her replacement shares Ms. Emerson's desire to see the US economy remain a free-market economy.

“So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it’s just that it will bankrupt them.” – President Obama.

Congrats to Rep Emerson. The dazzling urbanites in the DC bureaucracies have no clue what is happening in rural American. Nor do they care. And the fact is, congress (and “the people”) have surrendered any effective law making authority in the energy field to various federal agencies. Emerson is probably in a stonger position to serve the country as a trade association leader.